Droshe three

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This part of the world is on the shoulder of the Peak District, so you can expect plenty of hills! It starts in the pleasant town of Dronfield with a walk through quiet residential roads. You leave the residential areas in Coal Aston via an excitingly narrow set of steps, and end up at some fields. The footpath though these is well defined but at times these fields are hilariously muddy. Since storm someone-or-another was still lurking, we nearly got blown over into the mud. Once you’re through this challenge, the next section is through some very pleasant woodland, followed by more pasture and some rural housing. There was evidence (cow pats!) of cattle there, but luckily we didn’t see any - they scare the pants off me!

You finally emerge next to a dual carriageway, but you’re able to cross in two halves. You walk past the water tower (a water tower) and turn right at The Water Tower (a pub, sadly closed atm), then there’s a pleasant walk down, and then up through parkland and out into suburbia past the famous green towers.

The walk into central Sheffield is then mainly downhill along roads to the railway station. There are plenty of places to rest your weary limbs in Sheffield!.

I walked this, starting in Dronfield, with my sister, stopping at her house for lunch, as she lives quite near to the Water Tower, just beyond halfway. We completed it on a different day because there was heavy rain in the afternoon.
The path through the park in Dronfield was obvious on the ground, although the plot is slightly out. There’s a café and toilets here. We soon left Dronfield and headed through a series of well-used field paths which were quite muddy at the time. There were signs of horses and cows, although we didn’t encounter any. The wooded section (Nor Wood/Moss Valley) was rather lovely.
We didn’t have too much trouble crossing the A6102 dual carriageway, and soon reached the water tower, where we had our extended break! There were a couple of pubs along here (although one is temporarily closed), and also a supermarket nearby.
After our rather long lunch break, we continued along an earthen footpath that headed downhill into the Gleadless Valley, alongside a golf course, a school, and some allotments, although the woods either side hid a lot of this.
After that long downhill path there was the inevitable uphill, past the rather magnificent green tower blocks. The views from them must be amazing!
Then there was a long trawl down a fairly main road to Sheffield Station, but it wasn’t too busy, and the views near the top were interesting.
Overall, this was a varied walk which I quite enjoyed.

A  walk in three parts, urban, countryside and urban. So a mix of pavement and field walking. One challenging road crossing, who wants to start a campaign for lights to stop the traffic? No services half way so take advantage of those on the urban edges. Stiles, steps and potential for livestock plus horses. Up and downs but it felt like more ups. An enjoyable walk.

A steady climb along estate roads out of Dronfield after departing along the main drive through the park, not as plotted, another green space approaching Coal Aston. A neglected path passes The Cross Daggers where all the windows were open but the door closed. A garage here also has a shop. Path users are hemmed in behind houses before entering well walked open countryside which drops down to enter access woodland, managed by the Woodland Trust.

A climb on the other side into field grazed by horses where traffic noise increases as we approach the edge of Sheffield. Hazelhurst Lane provides our final walk in Derbyshire. The busy road is the boundary and crossing at the designated crossing point can be a challenge so needs patience.
There's now a bit of roadside walking to the water tower and Water Tower Inn which I should have mentioned was visible leaving Coal Aston. Turning at the inn it's back onto paths and the Sheffield Round Walk through the golf course and into Gleadless Valley Nature Reserve. We have shared this part of the route with Sheeck-2 so there is an alternative final approach into the city.

Crossing the Meers Brook at the exit from the nature reserve this route climbs again to pass the impressive green towers before a steady roadside descent into Sheffield passing the huge bus depot and a castle like lodge. I didn't like what I'm sure is an unnecessary climb to the green towers, I'm sure there must be a better route that continues downwards.

This was the route I actually walked when trying to follow DROSHE 1 from Dronfield to Chesterfield, apart from the small detour through the park in Dronfield which looks better and is more popular with locals than the footpath between industrial buildings. Having encountered a problem with the route out of Coal Aston, I decided to investigate a safer crossing point for the A6102 dual carriageway - there were no pelican crossings in sight but this crossing is a recognised one near a roundabout with a surfaced central refuge.

This route is fairly pleasant and easy to follow, but it does have stiles and steps, and field paths which can be wet and muddy. The road crossings are as safe as possible, but care should still be taken when crossing the A6102, where a degree of patience may be required.

Leaving Dronfield station, we (somewhat counterintuitively) start by walking down Chesterfield Road following the railway towards Chesterfield. We cross Green Lane and continue down Callywhite Lane, then turn left into Cliffe Park slightly further west than the GPX line, and follow the path out right to join the public footpath that comes up through industrial buildings. We turn left to join this path, then right a short distance along Stonelow Road then left up Oakhill Road, turning left onto Holmesdale Road where there are shops. We take a zigzag line up the hill through residential streets and alleyways to emerge on an open park, which we cross to the top right corner, turning right onto Green Lane and right again onto Cross Lane. We descend another alleyway left to reach Eckington Road, continuing straight on down Dyche Lane, then turning right onto Wilson Road. [Note that the OS 1:25000 map has a footpath diamond on the cul-de-sac at the far end of WIlson Road but there is no access from this cul-de-sac to the field to the north.] So we leave Wilson Road along the well signposted footpath opposite Shaw Street, then turn right along the garden fences to reach the field path that slants diagonally half left.

This takes us into a wood, where the path is fairly clear. Beyond the bridge over the stream we go fairly steeply uphill to reach a stile, beyond which the path takes an obvious line along field edges to Hazelbarrow Farm. We turn right down a farm road towards the farmhouse, then follow the track left to a bridge, then diagonally right across a field. We then follow the field edges half left. Note that the path stays on the right (east) side of the hedge as far as the small wood, which we cross, crossing more stiles to reach Wet Lands, which we pass on the right, emerging on Lightwood Lane, which we follow left up to the roundabout.

Here the best crossing point for the dual carriageway is a short distance right by a bus stop, where there is a crossing with an obvious central refuge (but sadly no lights), close enough to the roundabout to be fairly safe. On the far side, we turn left using the pavement, which is some distance from the road, and follow it along Norton Avenue and Hemsworth Road then a short distance up Blackstock Road to a gap in the hedge where we cross and continue along Hemsworth Road, turning right down Ashbury Lane and continuing down the path at its end, which crosses a golf course between fences and leads into Carr Wood. We cross two streams on bridges then turn right up the hill, continuing straight on to Abney Road. We follow the paved path below the road to the right, following Callow Road below the tower blocks then going left up Callow Drive to find the surfaced path (with steps) past Gleadless Medical Centre to Gleadless Road, We turn left and cross at the traffic lights, turning right up Daresbury Road, which leads to East Bank Road, which we cross at the lights then follow down the hill to the left. We follow this road most of the way to the station, turning right onto Cross Turner Street (where the station taxis wait), emerging at the Sheffield meeting point in front of the station building.

Full review and photos to follow.

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